Mrh74

Hi we have a house near to Pouzauges and are looking to rent it out again starting 2017 so will need someone to manage the changeovers etc. It's a 3 bed single storey place, very easy to clean and prepare, it has an in ground pool on an automated control system, we are looking for Saturday changeovers. Previous experience of letting it means it's really only through the peak period. If anyone is interested please contact me with details. Thanks Mark

Hi, We have a house near to Pouzauges and need someone to look after the garden for us it's about an acre, but there is a ride on mower and petrol strimmer on site, so no equipment needed. The garden is mostly grass so little other work involved. The pool has an automic dosing system so should just need claening and filter backwashing during the summer months. The house is let as a holiday home therefore there is also a possibility of managing the changeovers if wanted. Cheers Mark

Feedback from our situation too, it was the PRV that was causing the problem, managed to replace it this summer and hey presto great water pressure, closing in on being the best 30 Euro I've spent. Cheers Mark

Thanks for the advice, there is something like the PRV shown in the last post in the meter pit as far as I can remember, I'll have a go at it next week to see if I can do anyhting to improve our water pressure. Cheers Mark

We suffer from low water pressure too, any ideas where the pressure relief value you refer to will be installed? I've found the meter box out in the garden and know where the supply comes into the house to the stop cock, but I've not seen anything I'd identify as a PRV, maybe I'm looking in the wrong place, anyone got pictures of what one looks like? I'm not in France at the moment but will be there this coming weekend. Cheers Mark

Hi I've sent you a PM with a chap who is very close to you Robert Gough, he dug my pool out last year and I can highly recommend him, fully legal and very helpful. Cheers Mark

The product is called "Platre Fin" I think, it's simply wall skim plaster. We just mixed it by hand to make sure all the lumps were broken down, as I said to the consistency of thin custard and poured it on and squeegee'd it around and float finished it in some areas. I hope you are able to crack on with the pool soon, it is very rewarding to be able to take a dip, knowing it's your own work, we eventually got to that stage at the end of the last trip. I'm back to ours in mid July to lay the margelles and slabs and then hopfully in early August we will be in it every day! Mark

I haven't got the same type of pool, I installed a Christal Pool earlier this year, it has a screed base, which is what I assume you have too? Anyway their instrctions on the base once it was laid was to lay a thin layer of very runney finishing plaster (consistency of thin custard) over the top to "seal" the base, mainly to prevent the sharpe properties of French sand working their way through to the liner, but it also gives a very smooth surface and fills any imperfections there might be. Christal also have similar felt between the screed floor and the liner which Bugbear mentioned. If you do this I'd suggest using a squeegee to smooth it over when applying the plaster, I tried a brush and this left ridges which meant we had to do it all over again! Cheers Mark

Thanks for the replies and sorry I've been a while in saying that, but I've been stuck on work things! Anyway, I have a brand new pump that came with the kit and don't really want to replace that with a larger one right now, it's a BADU TOP 14 which if I've worked it out right delivers somewhere between 3/4 and 1 HP, it's rated as 0.65 kW. Would this run a filter capable of 22 m3 per hour or would it not have sufficient pressure to do it? Cheers Mark

Just found out about Zyke, looks an interesting site and some good prices, does anyone know what they hold in stock at their stores, for example, I need a winter cover, are they held in stock or are the special order? I have e-mailed them but they don't seem to want to reply and I don;t want to drive for an hour or so for a wasted journey. Cheers Mark

Currently it's got the filters supplied with the kit, which are 2 cartridge filters, these work well, but are a bit of a pest to clean and looking at spares not cheap about 150 euro a pair, so I figure a sand filter with zelbrite in it will do a similar quality job of filtering and be easier for my chap who looks after the place to clean with a quick backwash. I just can't work out what size filter I'm going to need. Cheers Mark

I've been trying to work out what size sand filter I would need to buy for my Christal Pool 5:5/60, it has a water volume of 53000 Ltrs or 11300 gallons and a pump that moves about 15 - 17 cubic meters per hour (if my calculations are correct). I've tried to find a filter to fit but I'm baffled and the information I can find on the web doesn't really help much , any help/advice greatly appreciated. Cheers Mark

Hi, I have installed a Christal Pool at our house in the Vendee and at present have no cover for it. The pool is fully fenced, so safety and law wise we are covered by the fence. What I'm struggling to decide is if a cover is needed and if so what type. As I see it at the moment I can buy a solar cover for retaining warmth, reducing evaporation etc. for the summer; I've also been looking at the solar sun rings. http://www.h2ofun.co.uk/solar_sun_rings.asp, but I worry about them being "lifted" as we are not there all the time; and a winter debris cover for the winter. As we are not there all the time, I think we need a cover that is going to exclude light to help reduce the deteriation of the water quality while the pool is own its own, so that would suggest to me that the solar cover is not needed, and we should go for a dark winter cover that is easy enough to put on and take off. Or should I not bother with the light exclusion and use a solar cover, or should I forget about a cover all together for the summer and just get a winter debris cover. Sorry for the ramble, but I'm confused. Any suggestions / experiences will be greatfully accepted. Cheers Mark

Well, I've got the quote now, and after getting up from the floor, I don't think I'l be going ahead with this option, it would have been nice but it's over twice the cost of paving slabs. Cheers Mark

Hi, I'm looking at the options I have for the surface around the pool I've just installed, I've got prices for paving with slabs etc. but was looking for alternatives and came across a system where a soft, rubber surface can be laid, the company I'm looking at it www.poolsafe.co.uk Now the questions, does anyone know of companies in france who supply and install similar products? Does anyone have any experience with this type of pool surround, if so what are the pros and cons you've found, also could you give an indication of what it cost to install, (I'm waiting for a quote but it's not arrived yet). Cheers Mark

Many thanks Andrew, helpful as ever. I fortunately do have someone who pops into the house most days who will be able to clean the cartidges for me and I'll have him run the pump as you suggest. I think we will have to upgrade the filtration at some point but as I said, money is the obsticle at the moment, we are going to be there most of the summer and will hopefully quickly learn the routines required to keep the water in good condition.The pump we were supplied is a BADU TOP 14S, I think, it certainly seems to have sufficient ummph to move the water around, it was amazing when swithcing it on how quickly things start moving about in the pool. Cheers Mark

Hi, I've just installed a Christal Pools 5:5 60 pool in the Vendee, hard work but fun and very satisfying! I've had to return to the UK now until the end of May [:(]and as yet I've not got  a cover arranged, so the pool is now full and uncovered, (it is fenced),  I've dosed it as per the instructions from Christal and was wondering what the thoughts are on how I should be operating the pump? For now I've left it running all the time, is it OK to only run it periodically, if so any suggestions, or should I leave it as it is? The filtration at the moment is the standard Christal cartridge filters, I'm hoping to upgrade to the sand / zeolite filter at some stage, but money is preventing this at the moment. Thanks in advance for any advice. Cheers Mark

Thanks for the replies, I managed to find what I needed, exactly, at Easy Piscines in Les Herbiers, very helpful lady there.   Cheers Mark

Hi, I'm in the process of installing a Christal pool at our house near Pouzauges, and will need some more water pipe for the pool to enable to pipe run to reach the conviently suituated garage where I can house all the pump and light connections, (and the additional filtration when I can afford it), I'm back in the UK at the moment and coming out again next week to hopefully finish the job, does anyone know of a local supplier of ABS 50mm pipe Class D or E? I don't need much, two 3 meter lengths and 4 staight connectors, but I don't want to get all the way out there and find I can't get a hold of it. There is a pool supply shop in Les Herbiers or is this something the bricolage might stock? Cheers Mark

Hi, We've got a house which we are looking to let as a gite near to Pouzauges, the cleaner we had is unfortunately not able to offer the service this year, anyone know of a company / registered person offering cleaning services in this area? Usual hand over is a Saturday. Cheers Mark  

Iceni, You mention trappig the beasts, I have a similar fear of Hornets as you, we (hopefully) don't have a nest but we do have the occasional one or two buzzing around the house and were thinking of putting out some traps, but what do you 'bait' traps with to attract Hornets? Cheers Mark

I tried searching for any posts on this and can't find any, so, does anyone here use the shareholder concessionary scheme from P&O? We have a house in the Vendee and live 'up north' close to Hull and recently went over on the Hull - Zeebrugge route and found it the best way we've tried yet. So we were thinking of ways to reduce the costs of using this route and the shareholder scheme looks promising. Anyone have any experience of it and can advise if it's worth it? Cheers Mark

For anyone looking for Ryanair flights there's a great tool on the www.moneysavingexpert.com/flightchecker it allows you to select routes and dates and shows all the pricing options, you still need to go to Ryanair and book it, but it is easier than using the next previous day method.   Cheers Mark    

Hi, I've tried searching but can't find anything on the subject of requirements for fencing for a river? I'm aware that swimming pools need to be fenced off, but does anyone know if there is a similar requirement for a river? We have a small river that runs across the bottom of our garden which is not fenced off and I would like to know if it should be? Any views on this? Cheers Mark

Don't want to hijack this but interested to know if anyone has any ideas where I will stand for this issue, I bought a new TV in France, Darty, but it has since been stolen in a burglary, so I don't have a TV anymore and at this time we are not intending to replace it as our house is a holiday home and we want to wait a while to see if we get targeted again. Will I be ale to explain this to the authorities when they come looking for us to buy a TV licence or will I still have to get one?   Cheers Mark